Republic of Ireland vs Belarus: Score, Reaction from 2016 International Friendly

The Republic of Ireland dropped their last international friendly ahead of the UEFA Euro 2016 tournament starting on June 10, losing 2-1 at home to Belarus on Tuesday.

The Irish dominated possession throughout the first half at Turners Cross, but Mikhail Gordeychuk gave the visitors a shock lead with a lovely finish. The same pattern held after the break, but another defensive error allowed Maksim Valadzko to double the lead.

Stephen Ward pulled one back for the Irish shortly after, but despite sustained pressure, the hosts couldn't score a second goal. Ireland's next outing will be in France against Sweden.

Shortly before kick-off, news broke that Bournemouth star Harry Arter would not be playing, via Sky Sports News HQ:

As a result, Ireland manager Martin O'Neill's starting XI looked like this:

The hosts had the brighter start, with Ward in particular looking lively. The left-back fired two dangerous crosses into the box, but twice Belarus found a way to clear before any of his team-mates got a shot off.

Aiden McGeady tried to pick out Ward with a clever pass, but the ball left his boot just too late, as the official raised the flag for offside. Ciaran Clark and Jeff Hendrick dominated in midfield, and Daryl Murphy's touch left him down after a good pass from Darron Gibson.

CAROLINE QUINN/Getty Images

But for all of their dominance, big chances evaded the Irish, and Belarus struck gold with one of their first chances. Gordeychuk produced a stunning finish after Ihar Stasevich created some space on the edge of the box, giving goalkeeper Shay Given no chance.

Paddy Power was a little disappointed:

Here's a look at the goal, via Setanta Sports:

Ireland tried to respond immediately, with David Meyler testing Belarus goalkeeper Siarhei Chernik for the first time. But the Irish defence continued to struggle, and they needed a last-minute clearance after a ball over the top.

Nikita Korzun was fortunately called back for offside, as Belarus caught Ireland napping once again, and Given had to be alert to deny Valadzko. Setanta Sports shared the highlight:

James McClean provided most of the danger for Ireland, but chances were few in the first half. Chernik did well to punch a promising cross clear before anyone could get to it, and that would be the last chance of the half.

Per BenchWarmers, the half-time result didn't look pretty when compared to Ireland's neighbours:

"

COMPARISON:

HT: Northern Ireland 2 - 0 Belarus

HT: Rep of Ireland 0 - 1 Belarus pic.twitter.com/Fi7WinNFfY

— BenchWarmers (@BeWarmers) May 31, 2016"

Ireland started the second half well, with McGeady finding Murphy, who narrowly missed the target with a header. McGeady was then fouled close to the box, but the free-kick came to nothing.

The Irish pressure continued, with Clark lofting a header into the arms of Chernik and McGeady barely missing a cross before some danger created when Chernik missed badly on a cross. The Belarus stopper redeemed himself with a fine save, however, and Clark headed the resulting corner wide.

But once again, Ireland were caught just as they seemed to be in control. Valadzko played a clever one-two before cutting inside, and his deflected shot gave Given no chance, via Setanta Sports:

O'Neill responded by introducing Shane Long and Wes Hoolahan, and the influx of talent had an immediate effect. Long played a clever pass to Ward, who blasted a low shot past Chernik.

Here's a look at the goal:

The stopper did well to keep out a Long strike at his near post minutes later, as the Irish pressure increased.

Both managers made several substitutions, however, and the pace of the match dropped significantly. Eunan O'Kane fired a half-chance well over the bar, and David McGoldrick hit the wall with a free-kick for the final chance of the match.

Post-Match Reaction

"I wanted to kill a few of them [Tuesday] night but I've moved on from that," Republic of Ireland assistant manager Roy Keane said while discussing the game on Wednesday, per Sky Sports' Jefferson Lake. He continued:

"

I'm pretty sure we will have a different starting 11 against Sweden.

We've lads to come in and that's the challenge we face. People have talked about not playing much football or players carrying knocks; I'm worried if players aren't carrying knocks.

You're supposed to get knocks because you're supposed to be tackling people, you're supposed to be hitting people at pace.

That's part of the game. It's not chess we're playing. After you get a knock, you don't need to go for a scan or get painkillers or have two days recovery where you sit in the pool for an hour and a half.

It's a man's game we're playing, believe it or not.

"

Via Setanta Sports, Clark said the whole side were disappointed with the result, but the players had already shifted their focus to the team selection:

The Irish did not want to finish their preparation for Euro 2016 with a loss against a low-ranked team, although it's too early to panic, as O'Neill opted to rest a handful of starters. The team will have to improve dramatically to have any chance against the likes of Italy, Belgium and Sweden, however.

Ireland will face Sweden in their first Euro 2016 contest on June 13 before taking on group favourites Belgium and Italy.

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